According to the Korea Securities Depository on Dec. 17, the cumulative settlement amount for the sale of foreign stocks by domestic investors has reached US$137.05 billion as of Dec. 14 since the beginning of this year. This figure surpasses the corresponding purchase settlement amount of US$135.97 billion during the same period. The net selling amount stands at US$1.08 billion, marking the first net selling settlement in the past decade.
The net buying amount of foreign stocks by South Korean investors, which stood at around US$354 million in 2014, experienced a significant surge in subsequent years. It rose to US$1.45 billion in 2017 and further skyrocketed to US$19.74 billion in 2020. Even in the previous year, the figure reached US$11.89 billion, far surpassing the US$100 billion mark.
Sales volumes have significantly increased in the United States, China, and Hong Kong. This year, the selling amount for U.S. stocks totaled US$130.27 billion. Net selling amounts for Chinese and Hong Kong stocks recorded US$51 million and US$130 million, respectively. On the other hand, stocks from the Japanese and Euro markets showed a buying trend with recorded amounts of US$648 million and US$171 million, respectively. This year, the stock that domestic investors have most significantly net bought is the exchange-traded fund (ETF) called “Direxion Daily 20+ Year Treasury Bull 3X SHS ETF.” It tracks the performance of U.S. long-term government bonds with a maturity of 20 years or more and offers triple leverage. During this period, South Korean investors net purchased US$1.11 billion worth of this particular ETF.